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Long-gone Philadelphia lead factory worries families

The Environmental Protection Agency held meetings in Philadelphia this year to alert residents living around the former John T. Lewis-National Lead-Anzon factory site that tests have found potentially dangerous levels of lead in some residential yards. Christina DiPietro-Sokol covered the family’s backyard in artificial turf to keep daughter Amelia and their dog, Hobbes, from coming into contact with the dirt. Estimates to cement over it were in the thousands of dollars, DiPietro-Sokol said. “We have two kids in Catholic school. We can’t do that,” she said.

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Long-gone Philadelphia lead factory worries families

The Environmental Protection Agency held meetings in Philadelphia this year to alert residents living around the former John T. Lewis-National Lead-Anzon factory site that tests have found potentially dangerous levels of lead in some residential yards. Christina DiPietro-Sokol covered the family’s backyard in artificial turf to keep daughter Amelia and their dog, Hobbes, from coming into contact with the dirt. Estimates to cement over it were in the thousands of dollars, DiPietro-Sokol said. “We have two kids in Catholic school. We can’t do that,” she said. Eileen Blass, USA TODAY

Christina DiPietro-Sokol, 4-year-old daughter Amelia, son Calvin, 11, and husband Doug Sokol stand in front of their Philadelphia home. DiPietro-Sokol has lived her entire life near the former John T. Lewis/National Lead/Anzon lead factory site. She said she loves the people in the neighborhood and wanted to raise her children there but is now concerned about lead contamination in the soil. Eileen Blass, USA TODAY

A neighborhood of row houses, many with small backyards, surrounds the former John T. Lewis-National Lead-Anzon factory site in Philadelphia. Mandy Nikolopoulos, 30, of Philadelphia, walks with her children, from left, Vasilios, 5, Lyla, 3, and Justin, 8, a few blocks from where the factory once operated. Eileen Blass, USA TODAY

A vintage advertisement for John T. Lewis & Bros., one of several companies to operate a large factory that processed lead for more than 140 years in the Port Richmond area of Philadelphia. Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Lisa Conway and her husband, Mike, installed new sod in their backyard to make it look better. After Lisa Conway attended EPA meetings this year about soil contamination in their neighborhood near the former John T. Lewis-National Lead-Anzon factory, she said she now hopes it will provide a layer of protection for their son, Mason. Eileen Blass, USA TODAY

EPA officials met with neighborhood leaders, including Sandy Salzman, earlier this year to discuss soil tests showing lead contamination in the yards of some homes near the former John T. Lewis-National Lead-Anzon factory site. Federal officials were not optimistic about getting the factory’s former operators to pay for any cleanup, said Salzman, executive director of the New Kensington Community Development Corp. Eileen Blass, USA TODAY

Anzon demolished its factory buildings in 1998. Pennsylvania environmental regulators allowed the company to enroll in a voluntary state cleanup program to address contamination within the factory’s property boundaries. But the program didn’t require any investigation of potential lead contamination in the surrounding neighborhood. Steven M. Falk, (Philadelphia) Daily News

Mary Bellopede, who lives near the former John T. Lewis-National Lead-Anzon factory site in Philadelphia, said she’s concerned about soil contamination. It’s unfair that homeowners are being told they’re responsible for making their own yards safe by replacing tainted soil or capping it with cement, she said. An avid gardener, she said she wouldn’t want her backyard covered with cement.
Eileen Blass, USA TODAY